VIDEO: Inspiration for Horsham artist blooms in historic gardens

John Thompson’s paintings are currently on display at Wakehurst Place in Ardingly and later this month he will set up his studio at Nymans Gardens at Handcross.

Wakehurst Place is managed by the Royal Botanical Gardens Kew, which is well known for its beautiful gardens. John, 59, uses his time there and at nearby Nymans for inspiration.

He said: “The most stressful part of my day is to walk thought the herbaceous border to work. It’s a fabulous opportunity.

“The gardeners are doing the hard work and I replicate that in artwork.

“It’s the history of the place and what a wonderful safe environment to take the kids for a family day out.

“Just walking through the borders seeing the colours, shapes and I’ve got an almost photographic visual memory. I get back to the studio and paint it.”

His work ranges from stills of wildlife to landscapes, woodland scenes and beach scenes.

He said: “My work is very bright, colourful and upbeat. I’ve heard people saying ‘I’ll buy this to keep me going through the winter’. In the winter I always put the biggest, brightest painting up.”

To view his work and to see him in action visit Wakehurst Place between July 5 and July 12 and Nymans Gardens from July 21 to July 31.

He is also running day-long workshops on July 24, 25 and 26. Booking for those is essential.

Contact Nymans on 01444 405250 for more information. John also has a website www.johnthompson.theartistsweb.co.uk